State of Collapse is an editorial site offering anarchist views on current events concerning political abuse of criminal justice systems, human rights atrocities, and the encroachment of the total surveillance society.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

FBI accidentally left behind secret documents in peace-activist raids

​When the FBI launched an early morning raid on the home of local peace activist Mick Kelly last September, it was supposed to be a precision operation.Backed by Minneapolis police officers, more than a dozen FBI agents in full SWAT gear, burst into Kelly's one-bedroom West Bank apartment. Provisions had been made for every eventuality -- a black Suburban idled in the ally, monitoring the back exit. Hostage negotiators were on hand if the situation turned ugly.

But the agents made one mistake: When they left Kelly's apartment, they accidentally left behind some of their secret documents.

And today, Kelly held a press conference to release the FBI's secret documents to the media.

Those documents include the operational plans for the raid, surveillance photos showing the apartment building, and 57 interrogation questions for Kelly and the eight other Twin Cities peace activists whose homes were being raided at the same time.

​Taken together, the documents offer the first glimpse into a highly secretive government investigation into the activists, which has resulted in 23 subpoenas to a secret federal grand jury.The activists claim the investigation, which concerns charges of "material support of terrorism," is an unjust and intrusive effort by the FBI to intimidate and stifle political dissent.